Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Earlier this year, I examined drilling activities by Exxon-Mobil 165 kilometres off the west coast. The company spent $150 million on that drilling operation but found no active hydrocarbons. In other words, no commercial hydrocarbons were present there. Therefore, it is not a matter of giving it away, it is a question of companies taking a punt on where they think is the best place to go. My Northern Ireland counterpart and myself have agreed to examine new terms for the future. I have taken on board the issue of taxation on oil revenues which was raised in the report of the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

That matter is out for tender at the moment and we will make a decision on it early next year. The key point is, however, that there have been no commercial oil finds to date. We are encouraging private companies to come in and exploit. We are looking at current and future terms, but not retrospectively. One of the Oireachtas committee's recommendations was that if changes are to be made, they would not be retrospective. We are competing in a difficult field with Norway and other countries. If a company has $150 million to spend and goes for a strike in Norway or Britain, it has a far higher chance of succeeding than off Ireland. We are re-examining the terms but there are no hidden reservoirs that somebody has their hands on and will press a button to activate sometime in the future. Companies want to come here to spend money and exploit that resource. We are happy with that and are encouraging them in. This year, there are more companies interested than ever before.

See this speech in context